NEW YORK: Long-dated US Treasury yields hit their lowest level in over a month for a third straight session and benchmark yields also touched more than one-month lows on Friday, pushed down by signs of disinflation and month-end buying.
Brent crude touched a four-year closing low on Thursday, when Saudi Arabia blocked calls from poorer members of the OPEC oil cartel to cut production to stem a slide in global prices.
Analysts said the move lower was another sign of disinflation underpinning a bid for US Treasuries.
"Global disinflationary factors continue to dominate market moves," said Shyam Rajan, US rates strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York. Yields on 30-year bonds hit 2.908 percent, their lowest level since Oct. 16, while benchmark 10-year yields hit 2.199 percent, their lowest level since Oct. 22.
US Treasury yields were set for their second straight monthly decline.
In addition, annual inflation in the euro zone cooled to 0.3 percent in November, marking a return to September's five-year low for consumer inflation, as energy prices fell.
Analysts said low volumes after the close of US markets on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and Friday's early close at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) made the bid for Treasuries more pronounced.
Only 44,566 contracts of December 10-year T-note futures changed hands in morning US trading, well below this year's average levels.
"People are anxious about not wanting to actively trade on such a thin day," said David Ader, head of government bond strategy at CRT Capital in Stamford, Connecticut.
Analysts also said purchases for month-end portfolio adjustments put a bid in the Treasuries market.
Benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes were last up 8/32 in price to yield 2.2 percent, from a yield of 2.23 percent late on Wednesday.
US 30-year Treasury yields were last up 15/32 in price to yield 2.92 percent, from a yield of 2.94 percent late Wednesday.
On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 stock index was largely unchanged.
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